Care Staff Retention

Increased demand for carers combined with declining applicant numbers mean there are more care and support vacancies than ever before, which can spell trouble for those working in the sector. As a result, knowing how to retain care staff for your business has never been more important. 

So, what do you focus on to ensure employers can keep their staff?

Staff Training

Supporting career development makes workers feel valued and helps build loyalty. Investing into staff training also means that the staff are constantly developing new skills and learning, which is great for the workplace. Staff training can take many forms, ranging from coaching sessions, seminars, external courses and team development days. If there’s strong, open communication between you and your team, people will be able to share career aspirations and you can support them in the journey. 

Create a Workplace Culture

A workplace culture refers to both the personality and character of your organisation. In turn, it plays a major role in the overall performance and satisfaction of the employees working there. Workplace culture can be shaped by traditions, interactions, attitudes and behaviours. 

Oftentimes, the workplace culture is determined by the mindset of the senior staff, so it’s imperative that they lead by example wherever possible. This can be done by ensuring senior staff abide by the same rules as the people they manage, taking steps to actively reduce stress and support employee wellbeing, encouraging a good work life balance and being open to challenges from the wider workforce. 

Prioritise Wellbeing

Burnout rates amongst social care staff is increasingly being addressed as a major sector wide issue. There are many factors that can cause a decline in wellbeing, such as job insecurity, financial worries and an ineffective work life balance. 

Among others, these elements of a job can have a detrimental effect on the mental health and wellbeing of employees, which could potentially lead to them looking for work elsewhere. As an organisation, if you put time into implementing practices and support networks to promote an open work culture, staff will feel seen, looked after and in good hands. 

Learn why People are Leaving 

There are many ways to learn why someone wants to leave the company - exit interviews, for example, are an excellent opportunity to get an honest account of why someone wants to find a role elsewhere. It’s important to try and gauge whether departing employees felt their wellbeing and mental health was prioritised or ignored. Simple answers such as wanting to spend more time with family can indicate that the role wasn’t flexible enough, or there was pressure outside of work hours. 

Exit interviews tend to allow individuals to be more honest and to the point, but with regular meetings and catch ups throughout their employment, this could be avoided. If you have consistent meetings and appraisals with employees, you’re likely to find out what issues someone’s having before it turns into them leaving, and this way, problems can be addressed and fixed. 

Celebrate Achievements 

It’s a simple, well known fact that happy employees are less likely to look elsewhere for work. By sculpting an environment where people are celebrated for their individual achievements, no matter the size, can build a robust team who are constantly striving to do better. 

Celebrating your employee’s can help them feel valued and appreciated. In the health and social care sector, it’s imperative to build strong, trusting relationships, so having a happy team who feel celebrated means lower staff turnover and a higher quality of care delivered. 

Offer Good Working Conditions

There may be limitations to how much you can realistically pay your employees, but there are plenty other incentives that can entice staff to stay, as well as promoting person centered care which focuses on individuals. Offering flexible working conditions means that someone’s job can fit nicely around their other responsibilities, whilst offering training to help them develop and travel down their chosen career path. 

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Fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace that value’s individuals' backgrounds, religions and perspectives will create a sense of belonging amongst your care staff, and will help them feel valued and respected. Everyone should feel like they’re being treated equally. 

Alongside creating a workplace that embraces diversity, fostering a culture that focuses on learning from mistakes instead of finding a blame can encourage people to come forward with issues, whether it’s their fault or otherwise. Consequently, staff can feel less stressed, and are more likely to be confident and speak up about improvements they think should be made. In turn, this can help your teams feel empowered, and can help achieve a greater sense of control in their work, which can also positively impact staff retention. 

Caring for vulnerable people is an enormously demanding job that can lead to burnout and high turnover rates if care staff aren’t receiving a sufficient amount of support in their role. Losing team members can have a detrimental effect on the overall performance of a care service, and the comfort of their service users. 

If you’re in charge of hiring care and support workers, you’ll understand how important effective recruitment strategies are - not only for attracting candidates, but also for holding onto your most important employees. 

By investing in the well being of your workforce, your care service will be best placed to deliver continuous exceptional care which will boost the overall success of the business.

At The SKA Group Ltd, we understand the significance of staff retention. If you're interested in joining a care team that consistently supports and empowers each other to excel, reach out to us today!

Our care and support positions offer generous benefits, such as flexible shift patterns, competitive pay, free DBS checks, and opportunities for further education, among others. Contact us today to discover how we can connect you with your ideal care and support role.